A case study in Organisational culture change

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Rolling out a project across the globe...

Saab Cars AB

In 1995, Saab Cars AB faced a challenge. In order to create a long term and profitable future, they needed to sell significantly more cars and create a customer experience that excited customers and hence made them loyal. Saab had plans to design and manufacture vehicles that exceeded their already high engineering standards. The challenge was to match that progress in the retail experience.

Our approach was to start at the heart of the organisation – rather than leaping in and encouraging the spending of large sums on a training programme - we started with the Executive Leadership. Chris Howe and Bil Murray facilitated a process by which the Leadership Team established their vision for the business and the values that would lead them there.

Once this was in place we worked with senior management, staff and dealers from around the world to design an appropriate communication and training programme for retail and wholesale staff.

In 1997, we recruited and trained a global team of facilitators to run the programmes in their local markets. We also supported them with a continuous improvement and assurance system to keep them up to date on changes and current best practice. The programmes were developed to fit the local cultures, translated for delivery in local language and quality checked for consistency with the global core messages.

The Saab Way was run in 12 markets and we rolled out fresh programmes over the following years that gave ongoing support to the dealer network as global sales increased by more than 30%.

"ChangeMaker's consultants revitalized a moribund Saab Brand in the late 1990's in several key markets around the globe. By bringing a dynamic method of organizational development, they energized Saab dealers in cultures as varied as Japan and Italy, with all stops in between. For taking ANY type of organization to the next level of performance, these guys are the Real Deal."

Chris Callahan, Global Training Manager, Saab Automobile AB

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